Chapter Text
Standing in front of the Castle Across the Way wasn’t something Evie could have guessed that would happen again. And she certainly never would have guessed it would happen hours after she, Mal, and Uma had worked together to bring down the barrier.
It was a few weeks after Ben had first announced the barrier would be coming down. He, Fairy Godmother and a handful of his trusted allies had decided what they were doing with the villains, ultimately putting them into one of two categories. The first there those who were deemed too dangerous to be left alone. Those had already been moved to an anti-magic prison in Camelot. Jafar had been among that group and Jay had been there when they transported him. When he talked about seeing his father again, he could notice how small his father seemed now. Maleficent was also, technically in this group, except they didn’t know where she was. Mal had been working on this, with help from Uma and some of the rumors she’d heard over the years.
The second group where those villains they’d deemed could be ‘released’ on time served. There was a caveat, as so many things related to the Isle were. The villains were being confined to the Isle for a probationary time and given their behavior they could be allowed access to the mainland. Cruella and Grimhilde both fell into this camp. Carlos had gone to see Cruella, to ask about his sister. Jay had gone with him.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
Evie exhaled, looking at Mal.
“We can still catch up with the boys.” She nodded over her shoulder.
“I need to talk with her.”
“Is that what you need?”
Evie placed her hand on her cheek, giving her a soft smile, “I know you’re just worried. I’m okay. But I need to do this. For me.”
“Then we’ll do it for you.”
Evie’s hand pressed against Mal’s shoulder, keeping her in place, “Actually, I think want to talk with her alone.”
Mal shifted half a step back, her eyes taking in Evie’s features, “I know you’re going to be okay, but…”
“You think I can’t handle my mother?” She asked with a smirk.
“I know you can." She gave a quick glance between the castle and Evie, "I know you will. And I’m going to be here for you after, whatever happens with her. Just remember, you’re beautiful. Always have been. Always will be.” She brushed her thumb across Evie's cheek.
Evie pressed their foreheads together, “Careful, keep saying things like that I might just fall for you.”
Mal laughed and kissed her cheek. “I’m just a call away, Princess.”
“I know.” She held Mal’s face in her hands and gave her a full kiss on the lips. “Good luck on your search.”
"Please, I don't need luck." She said with a wink and headed off down the street on her own.
The doors stood resolute as Evie stepped up to them. She took a breath to steel herself and she pushed. The groan of the hinges rang in her ears, the metal rusted and the joints stiff. The entry hall was just as large and empty as she remembered.
Most of the castle was like that. Empty and cold. They only used a few rooms in the place, but Evie used to check all the rooms at her mother’s behest while she still lived on the Isle. To make sure they never had any squatters. This place was big enough to house a couple of families and they’d never had to interact. But in her mother’s eyes, the Castle was a show of status, even with its leaking ceiling and drafty rooms. She couldn’t have anyone encroach in her territory.
As a young girl, these halls where her playgrounds, fields for her fantasy of finding a prince who’d take away from the Isle. She snorted to herself as she remembered fantasizing about the dresses and balls more as a child than the vision of her prince himself. She really should have known sooner.
The stairway up to her mother’s rooms were lacking the worn cloth runner from her youth. She wondered how bad it had been worn down that her mother have given up on the illusion of luxury.
“Mother?” She called at the top of the stairs. There was no answer. Had she missed her? She checked her mother’s favorite sitting room and there she was, sitting at the window, staring at the sky.
“Mother,” She said again.
“So, you did it,” Her mother greeted, without turning around, “But you’re not here to take me away from this place, are you?”
“No mother. But I did come to see you. I was hoping we could talk.”
Grimhilde snorted. “And what, Niñaita could you possibly want to talk to your mother about? After you abandoned her.”
“I never abandoned you.”
Grimhilde turned to face Evie. Evie’s stomach turned at the disappointment on her mother’s face.
“You didn’t abandon me? No. What did you do?”
“I went to Auradon to live my own life. Make my own choices. You already lived your life and made the choices that landed on the Isle. You chose to hurt people and that’s why you’re here. Not because I failed."
Her mother tutted, drifting over to a chair, sitting gracefully, “Is that what you think?”
Evie took a slow breath in, exhaling through her nose. She’d mentally prepared herself for this. For the misdirection. The seeding of doubt.
“And this is the part where you tell me the fault in my thinking and how you’re actually right?”
Grimhilde tutted, “Dear, I don’t want to tell you you’re wrong. But I want you to properly understand the world. If you’re going to live in, as you say.”
“I understand the world mother.”
“Not as well you think if you haven’t realized the simplest thing.”
“And what’s that?”
“That power is everything in this world. If you had power, I wouldn’t need to stay on this cursed rock. But you’ve wasted your time and failed at everything I thought you.”
Evie bit her tongue, exhaling again. “How have I failed mother?”
“You’re not married.”
“Actually, what’s I came to talk to you about. I’m engaged.”
Grimhilde’s expression shifted in an instant, “Niñaita, why didn’t you say so sooner? Come, sit. Tell me. Where is his kingdom?”
Evie snorted. She couldn’t even ask for a name first.
“There is no kingdom mother. And no Prince.”
“I should have known it too good to be true. What is he then? A duke? Tell me he’s at least a viscount. He can’t be a Baron. You must have at least done better than that.”
Evie took a breath to steady herself. “No title mother. And no him either. The person I’m marrying is Mal.”
“What?”
“The person, the woman I’ve been with, the woman that I love and whom I’m marrying is Mal.”
“Darling, this joke isn’t funny.”
“It’s not a joke mother.”
“Maleficent’s daughter? What kind of perversion did she put into your head?”
“Mother, she’s the person who I love.”
Grimhilde groaned, running a hand over her face, “What have I done? I wasn’t there and I failed you. I was so worried about Jafar’s son ruining you, but never considered that Maleficent’s daughter…”
“Mother, I was hoping you could be happy for me.”
“Happy? Happy! Have you no shame? No pride in yourself. With your beauty, you could have gathered the heart of any royal in the land with little effort. And you come here to tell me you’re… you’re marrying a nobody.”
“Mal isn’t nobody.”
Grimhilde snorted, “She couldn’t keep her King so of course, she went for the next best thing available to her. Can’t you see that? She’s using you. She has no title. But you are a princess.”
“Mother, no one recognizes our royal status in Auradon, because of what you did. And even if it was, that’s not why Mal asked me to marry her. She loves me, truly, deeply. And I love her the same.”
“Your generation and its obsession with love. Love gets you nowhere in life dear.”
“Actually mother, love has brought a lot into my life. But you couldn’t know that, because you’ve never had it. And for the things that love can’t give me I’ve worked for. I’m successful mother. I have the castle I’ve always wanted and Mal and I bought it with our money that we worked for. The kind of power you pushed me towards my whole life, I have no interest in it. My life is full mother.”
“You are too young to know what you’re saying. You just don’t understand things yet. You will not marry, Maleficent’s daughter. We can still find you a prince.”
“Mal, mother. Her name is Mal. And yes, I am marrying her. I didn’t come here to ask your permission. I came here as a courtesy. I’m happy and I wanted to share that joy with you. I was hoping you could be a part of our wedding, but now, I don’t want you there.”
And Evie stood, walking to the door.
“Don’t be dramatic, dear. Sit down and we’ll discuss this.”
“Nothing more to discuss. You refused to hear anything I’ve told you today.”
"Evie. Evie! Don't walk away from me."
That's exactly what she did.